Evidence of meeting #10 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was fishers.
A recording is available from Parliament.
3:40 p.m.
President, Gulf Nova Scotia Bonafide Fishermen's Association
Perhaps I could add to that.
My membership in particular has a very aging population. The majority of my fishers are, I would say, 60 or older.
Access to financial resources that would allow them to make the decision of whether to put their health at risk or their enterprise at risk would have been very helpful up front.
3:40 p.m.
Bloc
Marilène Gill Bloc Manicouagan, QC
I would like to ask some questions about research and development. We actually heard a number of witnesses talk about it earlier.
Ms. Sonnenberg, you talked about promoting and diversifying markets.
How could the government provide more structural support for research and development, and for opening and diversifying markets in the fishing industry, regardless of location?
3:40 p.m.
President, Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation
Right now we need a dedicated table and certainly I think there are some of those things going on. As my colleague, Mr. Boudreau, pointed out, as harvesters sometimes we find ourselves a little bit distanced from this discussion. Because of the COVID situation, we're having to take a very long, hard look at it to help our harvesters access markets to stay viable and be able to survive this.
Going forward, I think we need to have some structure where we're doing only that. We have a number of forums that are going on, which you've heard about, where we're talking about a wide variety of things. Definitely we need a dedicated table where we start to have experts come in and we start to look at ways we can diversify the market and promote our products. For example, in the case of the surplus food purchase program, how would that work for us?
Those are the things we need to take some time on now. Because we're coming out of that immediate crisis, the timing is getting better for it. I can tell you, in the beginning of this we spent most of our time looking at how we can get financial assistance to the industry. We still continue to do that, but I think we're in a place where we could start to shift into another place as well in conjunction with it.
3:40 p.m.
Bloc
Marilène Gill Bloc Manicouagan, QC
My next question is about the year ahead.
We would like to find measures for the current year. However, it seems that the fishery will still be feeling the impacts of the crisis next year.
In your opinion, are there any other long-term needs, other than those being met by the current government benefits and subsidies for harvesters and industry workers?
3:40 p.m.
President, Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation
That might be a question best answered by my colleagues here, because certainly they're closer to the industry in terms of work. We're going to be looking at this. I do think that in some areas there are going to be places where there will be more financial assistance required. We're going to have to work through that, and we're going to need the support of government.
3:40 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Membertou Development Corporation
I know MP Gill asked what more we can do to be more prepared. I think we all should be prepared for the second wave. Inevitably, it's going to come, and we've learned through what we've been doing right across the country in following guidelines to help flatten this virus.
In our case, this is on behalf of the indigenous people, the Mi'kmaq, at least in Nova Scotia. That's the only tribal people that are there. What are the programs that are available now for fishers, for harvesters? We don't even get that, so I would ask the panel to consider the indigenous people somehow being eligible for the programs that other people are. It's all we're asking for, really. Like all the other fishers, we're suffering the same. We all need help. Don't forget about us.
It's kind of like...I don't know what to call it. It's a situation of a different kind. Let me put it that way. Dealing with us, the Mi'kmaq in Nova Scotia, we fish in the same waters; we fish with others and we have non-indigenous people who work with us and for us. Because of the way it's structured, where our fishery is run by the band council and it's not run by individual fishers, we're not eligible. That's the big problem. The fishers are losing just as much as anyone else. This is what I'm asking, to help at least the fishers.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Chief Paul. Thank you, Madam Gill.
We'll now go to Mr. Johns for six minutes or less, please.
3:45 p.m.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Ms. Sonnenberg, you talked about the challenges fishers are facing with the delays in the funding getting out the door. Would the fastest way to get money into the pockets of fishers be by waiving licence fees in the regulations? Could you talk about the importance of that important ask?
3:45 p.m.
President, Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation
Certainly, Mr. Johns. We had put it into one of our first submissions that this was something we were looking for. We understand there was a decision made when the harvester package came out that the $10,000 would be to cover some of that. I think it's important to remember that for some of the operators, that doesn't cut it. There will be a time when we'll have to reconcile. When you're running a business, $10,000 goes pretty quickly. If you're spending that money to make your operation....
We heard Chief Paul talk about buying PPE. You can chew through a considerable amount of money when changing your operation, educating your crew and doing those sorts of things.
We'd like to go back to it and we'd like to have more discussion on it. I think it's an important one. The recognition of those fees may become necessary, given the state of the situation. That is a gap, certainly.
3:45 p.m.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
To add to that, we talked about new entrants and young fishers starting out. They don't qualify for almost any of these programs that are rolled out, to my understanding and from what we're hearing from fishers and organizations such as yours that are doing great work.
Is this something that captures them right off the bat and gives them a shot to get at least some support?
3:45 p.m.
President, Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation
It is some relief. There's no doubt about it. When you start to take away fees for licensing or quota access, some of which can be fairly substantial, it's certainly a relief. There's no doubt about it. Yes, if this is something we could do for the new harvesters, the new enterprise owners, I think it would be a step in the right direction.
June 16th, 2020 / 3:45 p.m.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Ms. Sonnenberg, you talked about foreign ownership and the report “West Coast Fisheries: Sharing Risks and Benefits”. Can you talk about the impact of the foreign ownership of licensing right now? Would it be fair for the government to intervene in a year like this and ensure that there's a fifty-fifty split? My understanding is that a lot of harvesters have locked into pricing based on last year's market. Now they can't even leave the dock before they can take a hit.
Can you talk about that?
3:45 p.m.
President, Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation
There are a couple of different fronts in this discussion. Number one is that the Canadian resource needs to be in the hands of Canadians. This is a huge concern to the federation. There is an erosion of control in terms of some of the state-owned enterprises that are trying to buy up our resource. That's something I would like to flag to the committee.
In terms of what's going on in British Columbia on the water, the situation is very unique. This committee made some very great recommendations in terms of changing the tide, really, and starting down a different direction. That needs to be done. The coastal communities in British Columbia and in other parts of the country are being impacted by corporate takeover. Our communities run on the support they get from these enterprise owners, owner-operators, independent harvesters or whatever terminology you use in your region. In B.C. it's independent harvesters. These folks need to be assisted. We need to see some dedicated help go to them, and it needs to happen quickly. We don't have time to languish under possible solutions. We need to get to the table. We need to find some things that will help them solidify their operations and be able to go forward.
Financially, they'll need to have assistance too. On this fish harvester relief package that's coming out, if we could even have some details around it, then people would have some understanding of what their eligibility might look like. That's been a huge issue. As I'm sure you've heard from some of your own constituents, not knowing is almost as bad as being rejected when you apply for the program.
Those are some of the things we would like to see right away.
3:50 p.m.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Thank you for that. It's very important.
Chief Paul, you talked about some of the barriers that indigenous fishers are facing around capacity building, around financing. Can you speak to that a little bit? I know that where I live, the Nuu-chah-nulth Seafood corporation has been lobbying for more investments in capacity building. Is that something you could speak to in terms of your community and how that's affecting your members?
3:50 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Membertou Development Corporation
Yes, it certainly is. We have a lot more people who want to go out fishing, but they can't get access. Again, we would like to work with the government, and we would like the fisheries associations to work with us to try to get more of us in. The decision was made over 20 years ago, and we're still in the situation where.... Like I say, it's a fishery of a different kind. We're not considered regular fishermen. Indigenous communities hold commercial communal fishing licences. We're not getting anywhere, and it's a big issue for us. We're still having discussions, but it seems like the wheels are spinning and we're not really getting anywhere.
3:50 p.m.
NDP
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Mr. Boudreau, could you speak about how important licence relief would be for your members on the east coast?
3:50 p.m.
President, Gulf Nova Scotia Bonafide Fishermen's Association
For the majority of my members, licence relief would be a help, but it would be a drop in the bucket. Most of my guys probably pay less than $500. That doesn't pay your expenses for one day of fishing.
3:50 p.m.
President, Gulf Nova Scotia Bonafide Fishermen's Association
It is. The big thing that most of my guys desperately need is payment protection on their enterprises. It takes a lot of pressure off my guys if they're not staring down the barrel of a $45,000 to $75,000 payment in either June or December.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Mr. Johns.
Before we sign off, I want to say a big thank you to Ms. Sonnenberg, Chief Terrance Paul and Duane Boudreau for participating today.
I want to stress the fact that, for any witnesses that have been put forward to the committee, it really depends on their Internet connection and the strength of it to be able to give good testimony here. Unfortunately, sometimes that's something we are not in control of, and the witness is not in control of it either.
Thank you to everyone on the committee today for their participation.
Thank you to the clerk and all the staff.
We look forward to seeing committee members again tomorrow afternoon.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
A point of order, Mr. Chair.
I see about five minutes left on the clock. Is is possible to have a quick round of 30-second questions for each of the parties in the five minutes I see on the clock?
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
If we do a 30-second question, we can only get a 30-second answer, because we have to be gone by 5:30 my time. There's another committee waiting and ready to go.
If you want to lead off with a 30-second question, I'll time you right to the second.